


Hunters - Short

by itsnotmeiswear



Category: Original Work
Genre: And I don't plan to continue this, Dystopia, Gen, Humor, I don't even know what counts as angst but like ... they're not happy, I'm really only posting this for completion's sake I don't expect anyone to read this, Light Angst, ends on a cliffhanger, future setting, okay back to normal tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26254234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsnotmeiswear/pseuds/itsnotmeiswear
Summary: Remember that one tumblr post about hunting delivery drones in a dystopian future? I used it as a promp for some creative writing homework. And now I'm posting it here, because I like it.





	Hunters - Short

Keira wakes up because someone is kicking her. She is not exactly used to being woken up gently, but that does not make her resent being kicked any less. Begrudgingly, she opens her eyes and sees Dean standing next to her.

“Wake up Keira. We're going hunting.”

Keira makes a disapproving noise and turns over away from him. “Keira!”, says Dean again in his usual grumpy tone and kicks her one more time. She groans again, but this time she sits up and starts to collect her thoughts.

“Hunting? This early?”

“Yes, this early!”

“I haven't even eaten breakfast yet!”

“You can eat it on the way! I know you still got some food in your backpack and besides, you won't get hungry for another hour and I am not waiting that long.”

 _He knows me too well_ , she thinks and starts to put on her shoes. She wants to argue further, but given that she just woke up, she is no match for Dean's wit and additionally he seems to be in a particularly bad mood this morning. So instead she obediently grabs her backpack and crossbow and follows Dean who is already on his way.

Almost everyone else in the camp was still asleep. Keira only murmurs a “Morning” here and there on her way out, which is more than Dean does. He is never very sociable, even at a more reasonable time of day.

After a short walk they arrive at their usual hunting ground. Their prey are Amazon delivery drones. Well, to be precise they are called Amazooglebook drones now. Ever since the great war, that eradicated most of the earth's population, Amazon, Google and Facebook merged, took over the entire market and became the only company there was. The people who could afford it cut themselves off and now live in small communities in the security of their bunkers. Everyone else was left in the wasteland; abandoned in a struggle to survive. All that remains as a constant reminder, that there are still people somewhere enjoying the comfort of pre-war technology, are the delivery drones that fly from the Amazooglebook warehouse to rich people's vaults, across land they do not dare to set foot on anymore.

Keira digs in her bag for something that could act as a decent breakfast, while Dean scouts the area with ultrazoom binoculars, on the lookout for drones. “Got one!”, he yells, just as Keira pulled out a piece of bread. Sorrowfully, she puts away her food without having taken a single bite and raises her crossbow to aim. They used to shoot them down with guns, but it was getting hard to find new ammunition. The arrows are mostly reusable and Dean engineered them specifically to send off small electrical shocks. This causes malfunctions in the drones and they make an emergency landing, which reduces damages to the package significantly.

Her arrow hits the drone perfectly. However, the impact crashes the drone into the wall of a nearby skyscraper ruin, the package falls out of the claw and about 20 meters downwards where it lands in a pile of debris with a loud thump.

“Great job.”, says Dean sarcastically. Keira sighs, but she is used to his snarky comments. He probably would prefer to do all the work himself, but shooting was the one thing she is undeniably better at. It is for the better, she thinks. Otherwise he would probably go out alone, refusing to recognize how dangerous that can be.

After they recovered their loot from the rubbish, Keira opens it with anticipation. This was always her favorite part. It was the moment that reveals whether the hunt was a success or not. The moment she finds out if the outcome had been worth the trouble. The moment that could bring so much joy and so much disappointment.

“Will you open the damn box?”, Dean nags impatiently. She opens it.

Inside they find an assortment of fancy looking knives. They are quite lavishly decorated, but still usable.

“Wow! Whoever ordered this must be a knife collector. I mean, they certainly don’t need the knives where they live.”, Keira says excitedly. Dean does not share her excitement.

"What's that disapproving look on your face? This is useful stuff!"

“Yes. I know.” He pauses. “But we really ought to find some food. Soon. I checked the supplies this morning, they're really running thin.”

“Shit. Is this why we're out so early? You didn't want anyone waking up and finding no breakfast?”

He nodded grimly.

Later they find all kinds of things they do not need. Electrical devices were common, but mostly useless since the power grid in the wasteland was long dead. Some drugs, which was good. And yet no food, which was very, very bad. Dean refuses to go back without new food supplies, so they keep hunting, until they stumble upon one specific package.

When they open the it, a screen emerges and a prerecorded message starts to play. This was very common in place of greeting cards for birthdays or similar occasions. But this one does not seem very celebrative. Instead, the video shows a rather worried looking woman with tired eyes. “Keira? Dean? I've been trying to contact you and I really hope this reaches you!”, she says. They look at each other in shock.

“Do you know her?”

“I've never seen her before.”

“How does she know us then? How could she have known that we would shoot down this this drone? Why does-“

“I don't know, Keira! Keep calm!” He looks very calm on the outside, but Keira knows him long enough to catch the traces of anxiety in his voice, no matter how good he was hiding it.

“Let's watch the rest of message first, before we take any rash actions.” Keira looks at him for another moment. Then she gulps and they both turn back to the screen.


End file.
